Rail-splice or fish-plate



(No Model.)

H. F. 00);. RAIL SPLICE OR FISH PLATE.

Patented Feb. 28, 1888.

(EWJ @zo HENRY F. COX, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAIL SPLICE OR FISH PLATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 378,523, dated February28, 1888.

Application filed March :8, 1887.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY F. COX, of the city and county ofPhiladelphia, State of Pen nsylvania, have invented a new and usefulImproved Rail-Splice or Fish-Plate, of which the following is a true andexact description, due reference being had to the accompanying drawings,which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to the construction of fish-plates for uniting theadjoining ends of railway-rails, and has for its object to make a firmerand smoother joint than has heretofore been practicable by the use ofsimilar splices. More especially my object is to counteract the tendencyof the rails to yield at their ends under the weight of a train and soinsure a practically level track for the train to run over.

My invention consists, first, in making my fish-plates with a camber orupward convex curve of about one-sixteenth of an inch,which I have foundto be about the proper degree of curvature to counteract the tendency tosag of the rail ends; and, second, in providing such fish-plates withre-enforcing wings, by which their strength and rigidity are increased.

Reference being now had to the drawings which illustrate my invention,Figure 1 is a side elevation of a rail-joint having my improvedfish-plate; Fig. 2, a perspective view of the same, and Fig. 3 an endview ofsuch a joint.

A A are the rails, a a being their heads and a a their bases.

B is my improved fish-plate, the upper surface,b, of which comes incontact with the head of the rail, while its lower surface, I), is incontact with the rail-base. Both of these conat the ends,

SerialNo.232,G52. (Nomodeh) clamped in pairs on opposite sides of therails by bolts 0, and as they are drawn together by means of these boltsthey force the rail to take a curvature corresponding to that of thesplices. In the drawings this curvature is greatly exaggerated in orderto make it apparent to the eye. A train passing over a track having mysplices secured, as above described, will run more smoothly and withless resistance than on a level track. Ihave also found that thestrength and rigidity of such fish-plates and of the joint formed bythem is increased by forming buttresses or wings B B in the angle formedbetween the two flanges of the fishplate, and I prefer to use thisre-enforcing device in conjunction with the curved orarched form offish-plate already described.

It will be noticed that the spikes D D, which secure the ends of therails to the ties, are shown in the drawings as having their headsresting on the flange of the fish-plate, but not so as to force theplate and rail down upon the tie. The rail can thus bend under the trainand recurve itself when the weight is removed without interference fromthe spikes.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. As a new article of manufacture, a railway spliceor fish-plate havinga gradual up ward curvature from its ends to its center, substantiallyas and for the purpose specified.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a railway splice or fish-plateprovided with up wardly and outwardly extending flanges, said platehaving a gradual upward curvature from its ends to its center, andhaving wings or buttresses B, all substantially as and for the purposespecified.

HENRY F. COX.

Witnesses:

FRANCIS 'I. CHAMBERS, H. W. HARE PoWEL.

